Jedi and Proud
by Elemarth
Summary: Moyek Yasi is on a quest to tell the entire galaxy she's lesbian.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:**

 **Before we go any farther, let me point out that this story is INCREDIBLY gay. That's the point of it. If you have an issue with that, don't read any farther.**

 **Some of you haven't read any of my old stories, and most who did probably don't remember them because it's been a LOOOONG time (as in, over nine years), so here's a rundown: the main character is Akite, whose first master died in the Battle of Geonosis. Her second master, Moyek Yasi, was known for being amazing with a lightsaber and a little bit crazy. Also, Akite narrates the stories in first person, so you can imagine her telling you this story.**

 **I've actually been sitting on this for a really long time. I started it when I was getting excited for TFA and I went and reread my old stories. The thing is, I'd always imagined Moyek as lesbian, but I didn't feel confident saying it outright back in high school. I thought that somewhere in** _ **Bloodrain**_ **(which is terribly written overall, in retrospect) I'd hinted at it, but when I reread it, I realized I'd completely failed. I felt like I had to do something, and now I'm older and wiser and can actually SAY that the character is gay.**

 **Over and over. And over.**

 **And over.**

 **And over.**

 **Yeah.**

* * *

 **Jedi and Proud**

It started after Moyek fell in love for the second time.

Everyone crowded around her in the cafeteria when she got back from her mission. Of course, everyone wanted to hear about missions, but there were a lot more listeners for her than for most people. Her friends were there, as usual, but there was also a crowd of younger students who just wanted to be close to Moyek Yasi, the crazy padawan, the one who won every lightsaber tournament except the ones she lost for fun, who would tell teachers the things everyone else wanted to say but were too scared to, who wasn't afraid of anything, who had once taken her friends and a handful of initiates on a shuttle _offworld_ and had avoided getting expelled, mostly because the Council members were afraid she'd start a cult if they ever let go of her. With a person like that, everything they did was fascinating.

There were questions all around.

"What was it like?"

"Where did you get to go?"

"Did you get to do anything alone, or was your master always there?"

"Did you fight anyone?"

"Did you _kill_ anyone?"

Moyek answered the questions: she had gotten to work alone a bit, she hadn't gotten into fights, and if she had killed someone she wouldn't be bragging about it. (If she was going to be their role model, she had to be a good one.)

"But there were problems, too," she said. "I fell in love again, and it was even worse than last time."

The thing is, falling in love is always awkward for a Jedi. You aren't supposed to do it at all. Of course, most people do. I did. My friends did. Maybe even Yoda did once. He used to be a kid, too. But even if everyone does it, hardly anybody actually _talks_ about it. That's hard, when you need advice and all you can get is that you need to let go and move on. But she was Moyek Yasi, so if there was something people didn't talk about, she'd make a point of doing just that.

"Why would you do that?" asked one of the younger kids.

"I didn't do it on _purpose_."

"You didn't?" Another kid sounded disappointed.

"It wasn't something to get at the teachers," Moyek explained. "I understand why we aren't allowed to. It's distracting and it causes conflicts of interest and a weakness that your enemies can and probably will exploit. But you can't really help it. It happens to pretty much all of us eventually."

"Who did you fall in love with?" asked Flen, her Ithorian friend.

"A politician's kid." That had just made the situation worse, she thought.

"Was it hard to leave?" Flen asked.

"Yes." She looked down. She hadn't gotten over it yet.

"Was he hot?" asked one of the other padawans, a Human named Yarel, excitedly.

Moyek rolled her eyes and sighed. Why did they _always_ ask whether they were hot?

"You mean, 'Was _she_ hot,'" said another of her friends, Ajiya.

"'She'?"

"Of course, 'she'!" Moyek said. "Don't you know I'm lesbian?"

"Jedi can be lesbian?" The Human boy frowned.

"Anyone can be lesbian." _Even people on planets where it's banned_ , she thought bitterly.

"What's 'lesbian'?" asked another padawan.

Moyek frowned. He was thirteen, same as her. How did he not know that? It mattered so much to so many people. Moyek had seen that even in the small amount of time she'd spent out in the galaxy.

"It means she usually only falls in love with girls," said Flen, trying to make it simple for him.

"Jedi shouldn't call themselves things like that," Yarel said. "They aren't supposed to fall in love. If they do, they shouldn't talk about it."

"Then what are you doing here, listening to this story?" Flen asked.

"I mean, she admits it wasn't a good idea. But calling herself lesbian? It sounds like she's proud of being in love."

"Naming my sexual orientation doesn't mean I'm in love with anyone. It's just a word for who I'm interested in."

"But what Jedi ever does that?"

Moyek's frown deepened.

"Do you not know who you're talking to?" asked Flen. "She'll take that as a challenge."

"But it doesn't really matter, does it?" asked Ajiya. "You're not going to act on it."

"It's an identity. The rest of the galaxy talks about it as part of who they are. Why can't I?"

"Because you're not looking for a girlfriend," Yarel said, sounding like he thought she was stupid.

"So? It's still part of me."

"But it doesn't matter."

Moyek crossed her arms. "I just watched someone have to decide to hide who she really is and who she loves so she wouldn't either get disowned or end her mother's political career. And it's not even that bad for her: people on other planets _die_ for it. Even on planets where nobody has any problem with it, people feel like it's part of who they are, how they see the world. It matters to everyone else. Why not me?"

"Because you're a Jedi. What Jedi goes around telling people their sexual orientation?"

"Now you've done it," said Flen.

She waved her hands to get the attention of all twenty-or-so people at the table, as if they weren't already watching her.. "Hey, everyone!" she said. "I'm homosexual. And it doesn't matter to any of you, but it does to the galaxy, and it does to me." She folded her arms. "There, see?"

"He's right," said one of the older padawans. "Jedi shouldn't talk about being gay."

Apparently, they hadn't gotten the message yet. The people around Moyek were crowding her too much for her to be able to get up, so she nudged them away until she could stand. Her friends watched in silent, morbid fascination. "Hey, everyone!" she shouted.

A few heads turned her way, but only people near her, and no teachers. Not enough.

"Hey! I have an announcement!"

Still not working.

"Hey!" Moyek jumped on the table.

Instantly, the cafeteria went silent. People turned to look at her. One of her teachers jumped out of zer seat, ready to stop her from whatever she was about to do. She knew she had to be fast.

"Hey, everyone, I'm gay, even though I'm a Jedi! Just wanted to let you know!"

She grinned, then jumped down to a table full of staring, laughing, and cheering.

And then, everyone started to _talk_.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, people started coming out all over the Temple after Moyek's announcement on the table. Gay, bisexual, pansexual, even one padawan who was asexual, which was pretty much what Jedi were supposed to be but apparently made a lot of people think he was lying to make himself look better.

"I'm just straight," one girl complained. "I'm boring."

"Great," said Moyek. "Tell everyone. If you have to tell them you're straight, it lets them know that someone else might _not_ be."

The girl smiled, happy to be part of Moyek Yasi's rebellion. And Moyek felt pretty good.

* * *

Moyek looked out the sides of the transparisteel tunnels at the beautiful coral garden around her. It was the best part of this planet, much more enjoyable than what she was supposed to be doing: talking to the handmaidens who were companions to the princess. Master Jaren had told her that was her job, since they were only a few years older than her and girls. Moyek knew it was always a good idea to get to know the servants, but Alaura, Ela, Jei, and Merri weren't really servants, they were politicians, and they would think hard before sharing the things they overheard.

So, she was getting more and more bored listening to stories of people dating and not dating and just dating for political reasons and liking each other but _not_ dating for political reasons… Nothing was useful. Moyek was no good at gossip. She'd rather be chasing bounty hunters or pirates. So would Jaren, probably, but he didn't say so. He didn't want to encourage her.

The coral garden really was amazing. Judging from this, Moyek would have thought it would be nice to live in an underwater city, but one of the few useful pieces of information she had learned so far was that there were an absurd number of daily technical problems with living under a dome. Still, it was the only way they could survive on this planet, with its poisonous soil and dangerous weather.

Moyek was paying much more attention to the passing fish than to the handmaidens while they discussed which men were fun and which to stay away from, until the girl named Merri said, "But Nauri's gay, so he's practically a girl."

Moyek frowned, annoyed. If they thought a gay man was a girl, then they would think she was a boy. Sure, she wasn't very feminine, but most Jedi weren't, and even if she was less feminine than someone like Ajiya, she was still a _girl_.

"He's so nice," said Ela to Moyek, smiling. Unlike the other three, her friendliness seemed to be entirely genuine. "But he can't find a boyfriend, because none of the other boys are interested in men."

It wasn't right to let them talk about this without them knowing. "At least I don't have to try to find another girl who likes me," Moyek said.

The girls tried to cover their surprise, but none of them entirely succeeded. "You mean –" Jei started.

"I'm gay, too," Moyek said.

Merri blushed and covered her eyes in embarrassment.

"You can do that?" Alaura asked. "I thought Jedi…"

"It's not something I _do_ , it's something I _am_."

"But if you can't date –"

"I can still be interested in people. I mean, they can't stop us from having feelings. I just have to ignore it."

"I never knew that," said Jei in genuine surprise.

She really needed to talk about this more. It was a problem.

"So are you really bored with this conversation?" Alaura asked. "I know this is really girly stuff."

"Yes, but not because I'm gay. I just don't like gossip." Moyek wanted to kick herself. Now they would believe all the stereotypes were true and that she didn't count as one of them.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Politics would be good."

"But –" started Merri.

Ela shot her a look. "Of course we can talk about that. We don't want our guest to be bored."

So they talked about politics for an hour while still telling her absolutely nothing useful. Behind their fancy dresses and pretty makeup, they were all well-trained and intelligent women chosen for their ability to handle politics. She told as much to Jaren after dinner.

Clearly, that was not what her Human master was interested in the moment. He crossed his arms. "Did I forget to mention that you shouldn't become part of the gossip yourself?"

"We're Jedi," said Moyek, confused. "And all they do is gossip. Not about anything useful, but still. They're going to talk. I can't stop that."

"You didn't have to give them anything to talk _about_!

"What do you mean?"

"I swear the entire palace knows you're lesbian now!"

"Oh, you mean _that_." Moyek thought about it, then shrugged. "At least they know Jedi can have sexual orientations now."

"That's not the point!"

"Actually," said Moyek, "It kind of is."


	2. Chapter 2

"And this is my padawan, Moyek Yasi," said Jaren to the Corellian captain who would be flying them around on their hunt for pirates.

"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. She bowed slightly in respect.

"Well, hel- _lo_ ," sang the captain's son, smiling too broadly. He winked.

"Please don't," said Moyek.

"What? Is there some Jedi rule against flirting?"

"She's not interested," said Jaren. "And she's fourteen."

"Don't worry, dude. It's just flirting. And I'm only sixteen."

"You will call me 'Master,' and she is not interested."

"Why?" He smiled again.

"Dude," said Moyek. "I'm a lesbian."

"Not _again_ …" complained Jaren.

"Oh!" The captain's son's too-wide smile was replaced by a normal one. "Sorry!"

On the plus side, he treated her like a friend for the rest of the mission. Unfortunately, he also tried to teach her to flirt with girls. Well, at least the mission wasn't boring…

* * *

"And this is my padawan, Moyek Yasi," Jaren told the minister.

Moyek grinned and stepped forward. "Nice to meet you. I'm Moyek, and I'm gay."

The minister opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

" _Moyek_!" Jaren yelled.

* * *

"Hi," said Moyek to the militia captain. "My name's Moyek, and I'm lesbian."

Jaren covered his face and groaned.

* * *

Moyek bowed to the prince. "I'm Moyek, and I'm lesbian."

"She… does that," said Jaren.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Moyek, and I'm gay," Moyek said to the first diplomat. And the second. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. And the cleaning droids. And the waiters. And everyone else.

"Nobody else in the entire galaxy does this, you know," said Jaren.

"That's why I'm doing it."

"But what do you get out of it? Anyone who stops to think about it knows that Jedi fall in love."

"But if they think about it, they think I'm straight. Because everyone knows I'm a Zabrak – I'm bald and have horns and tattoos. And everyone knows I'm a Jedi – I have a lightsaber and Jedi robes and padawan beads. But people don't know I'm homosexual, and that's part of me, too."

"You want them to know it by _looking_ at you?" Jaren clearly thought she was nuts.

"No, I'm fine just telling them." Though she wondered how she could do that. She could find out what the local symbol was and pin it to her robes…

"That's not what I mean! And, come on, it's not as big a part of you as being a Jedi."

"No, of course not, but it's still part of me. Every part of me is important, right?"

"There's a big difference between 'I'm gay' and 'I'm a Jedi'!"

"Of course there is. So, do you happen to know what the symbol for lesbian is around here?"

* * *

Moyek looked at her sparring partner. They bowed to each other.

"Moyek," the Roonan girl said.

"Hi. I'm lesbian."

She nearly dropped her lightsaber. "Are you insane? We're having a duel!"

"No, I just like making _you_ insane."

"B-but –"

Moyek took advantage of the moment to attack. She won, of course, in short order. Her opponent was still blinking in shock ten minutes later.

* * *

"You are _not_ going to tell anyone you're lesbian," said Jaren. "I'm serious. It's not a joke this time. Saying you're homosexual is against the law here."

There were a lot of things Moyek wanted to say about that. Prejudice was one thing – it was hard to get rid of – but how did a planet get away with a law against it while still being considered part of the Republic? The Republic supported equality, after all. But all she actually said was, "Fine."

So she was silent when Jaren introduced her to people. It felt weird, at this point. And she missed seeing people's reactions to it, especially Jaren's. But she tried to do what she was told.

"It's so sad that you can't have children because you're a Jedi," said one of those annoying women that you could find anywhere. Zabrak, Human, or nocturnal flying cat-people – if there were women, there were people like this. Better than the stupid and selfish type of man who was universal to all species, though.

"I can train children as apprentices," said Moyek, trying to be polite. She was stuck at this party, after all, and she was going to be stuck on this stupid planet until negotiations were over.

"But you can't be a mother," she said, blinking her big eyes.

"Or a wife," said her friend, who had reddish-black fur, not the usual midnight blue of the species.

"I'm not that interested in it, anyway." Moyek wasn't exactly mother material. Mentor, maybe, but not mother. She'd just get annoyed at her children for not being able to do everything by themselves already.

The first woman fluttered her wings in agitation. "But everyone should get to be a mother!"

"Well, I could if I wanted to, with artificial insemination or a one-night stand or something, as long as it's not romantic. But I'd make a really bad mother, trust me."

"Don't you wish you could have a husband?"

"No." _Don't say it, Moyek._ "I'm fifteen, and I'm not interested, anyway."

The woman tipped her head, blinking again. "Why not?"

"Men are stupid." _You promised,_ she reminded herself.

"Of course they are, everyone knows that, but it's worth it!"

Moyek looked around for some escape, but everyone at the party seemed to already be deep in conversation with someone else. "Maybe to you, but not to me. I'm a Jedi. We don't do that."

"Being a Jedi doesn't stop you from wanting it," the red-furred woman said.

She couldn't hold it in anymore. She'd have to face Jaren later. "No, but not liking men does!"

Everyone around her suddenly went silent, even the ones she had thought were occupied. The two women looked at each other, not sure what to say. Moyek knew she should feel guilty, but she didn't. They needed to know that people like her existed and weren't going away just because they didn't want to talk about them. And if everyone hated her, or if it broke down the negotiations, or if they didn't know how to deal with an official diplomat who broke the law in the middle of a party with a dozen witnesses, well, she could deal with that. She was a Jedi. They couldn't hurt her.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Moyek Yasi, and I'm gay," Moyek told the merchant.

"That's… nice," she said.

Jaren started to say something, then changed his mind. He threw up his hands, shook his head, and gave up.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Moyek, and I'm lesbian," Moyek said, craning her neck up to look at the Quermian man towering above her.

"Moyek is on a quest to tell the entire galaxy she's lesbian," Jaren explained.

* * *

"Don't we have a mission?" Moyek asked, confused.

"Not anymore," said Jaren.

Moyek frowned. "Why?"

"Because the Council was sending us somewhere where gay people tend to end up dead. It isn't against the law. It's just something that happens there."

Moyek groaned. Not again. This was the _Republic_. No planet should be like that anymore.

"So I told them we couldn't," her master said.

"You told the Council that?" she asked, shocked. "You're _allowed_ to tell them that?"

"I'm allowed to – you're not. So Master Daxe said you should just not say anything. I told her you'd do it anyway, and then she went ahead and told me it was my job to control you!" He sounded offended.

Moyek cringed. She didn't want to the cause of her master being told off by a senior Council member.

"So I pointed out that I was asked to be your master because even if I wouldn't encourage you to do things like this, I wouldn't try to stop you, because they thought if I did try to stop you, you'd rebel and get completely out of control."

This was true. Another knight had asked if Moyek could be assigned to her, promising she'd make her behave, but the Council had said no, and Jaren had asked her suspiciously soon afterwards.

"So, long story short, we're not going there. And you get to go on telling everyone your sexual orientation." He sighed. "And I get to put up with it."

* * *

A boy was watching Moyek. He looked about her age, dark-skinned and dark-haired, and very nervous. She hoped he wasn't interested in her. Of course, everyone in the district probably knew she wasn't interested in boys by now. Not that she thought they would take that seriously. Some people had already told her she just hadn't met the right person yet. Another prejudiced planet.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Hi." Moyek narrowed her eyes.

"I saw you and your master fight off the pirates," he said. "You were really amazing. Both of you."

"Thanks, said Moyek, feeling awkward. "I guess I'm good at that. I practice a lot." Around the Temple, she'd go ahead and admit that she was the best padawan her age, but here, that didn't seem right.

"You were as good as your master," he said.

"Not really. He still beats me in practice." Sometimes.

The boy looked shy again. "I wanted to say, I'm bisexual."

Oh. _Oh_.

"And I've been afraid to tell my family. But I think, if a Jedi like you can be homosexual, it's okay for me to like men and maybe not have my own genetic children and maybe not do all the other things they expected me to do. And I think I'll tell them."

Moyek felt pride rising in her. But still, it wasn't going to be easy for him. "Will you be okay?" she asked.

"I hope so," he said. "And if I'm not, at least I'll be honest, and maybe someone else will join me, too, you know?"

Moyek smiled. At last, someone understood.


	3. Chapter 3

"And this is Moyek Yasi, my apprentice," said Master Farr.

Moyek bowed, but she didn't say anything. She didn't know Farr well enough. She didn't know how he'd act. And she didn't want to make life difficult for someone who was kind enough to adopt her, an orphaned apprentice who was fifteen years old and had a major reputation.

"You can relax," said Farr when they got to their rooms. "I'm not going to change my mind if you say the wrong thing. I meant it when I chose you."

"I know," said Moyek, but traveling and living with someone other than Jaren didn't feel right. Nothing felt right anymore, not even herself. She didn't know who she was now. She was glad to be on a mission, though. When she was out of the Temple, she didn't have people following her around or have her friends expecting her to be the same person they knew. She didn't have to pretend to be who she had been before Jaren had died.

She'd just do the mission.

* * *

They went straight to another assignment afterwards. That didn't happen much, so clearly someone knew that Moyek wanted to be away from the Temple. Flen sent her a message talking about how he missed her, and Ajiya passed along the story of an absurd adventure two older padawans had gone on while their masters left them alone. But that didn't make her laugh like it would have before.

Going on another mission didn't make her feel any better, either, it just stopped her from feeling worse. Instead of flying around with Jaren, she was with someone she barely knew. But maybe she needed to find out who Farr was, and maybe it would help her rediscover who she was, too. So when they arrived and Farr introduced her, she said, "I'm Moyek Yasi, and I'm lesbian."

"What?" the monogender insectoid asked, utterly confused. Moyek grinned at looked at her new master out of the corner of her eye. His big, Nautolan eyes blinked slowly. Moyek laughed.

"I'm sorry," said Farr to the person. Then, he said to Moyek, "Is this what I'm in for?"

"Well, you _did_ tell me to relax."

He shrugged. "All right, then."

A blanket seemed to have lifted off of Moyek, and she could feel the world again. And she found that she hadn't changed as much as she had thought.

* * *

"And this is Moyek Yasi, my apprentice, who would like you to know she's lesbian," said Farr.

Moyek blinked for a moment, then started to smile. That was so cool. Jaren would _never_ have done it.

"Why?" asked the pilot.

"It's important to her. But she's fifteen and a Jedi, so _don't_ get any ideas."

Moyek grinned. Maybe things were going to be all right after all.

* * *

"I'm Farr Branis, and this is Moyek Yasi, my apprentice, who would like you to know she's lesbian, but she's sixteen and a Jedi, so _don't even think about it_ ," said Farr.

Moyek beamed.

* * *

Dealing with near-uncontacted cultures was the one kind of diplomacy Moyek liked. She didn't have to deal with politicians. She got to solve a mystery, instead.

In this case, the village they were visiting wasn't on a completely unexplored planet, but the planetary government was newly formed, and it only ruled one side of the planet. There was a continent full of people they could barely even speak to. The Senate wasn't going to give them official status unless they had some kind of agreement with the people of the other continent, so they had sent Moyek, Farr, and a protocol droid to spend a few weeks in a town to try to establish relations between them and the Republic.

It wasn't going well. The protocol droid knew the language of the people on the other side of the planet, but he didn't know more than a few words used by the Hraan, as the people in this area called themselves. The Hraan had almost no contact with aliens or artificial intelligence, and they didn't like the protocol droid or Moyek's lightsaber or anything more advanced than their pre-industrial technology. And they could barely communicate with each other and didn't know anything about each other's cultures. Moyek didn't even know how to avoid insulting them. She had no idea how to explain to them about the Republic or the Senate or the Jedi.

The Hraan were large, birdlike people, except that their wings had evolved back into hands. The men's feathers were bright red and orange, but the women's were duller. (Stupid showoff men.) Interestingly, some of the women wore men's clothes and vice versa. Moyek had tried to convince Farr to let her wear men's clothes, since they were clearly more comfortable (stupid selfish men), but he had insisted that, since they didn't know anything about Zabrak, they wouldn't know she was a woman otherwise.

One morning, Moyek sat with a group of men – and one woman dressed like them – who were cooking lunch for their families. She was trying both to be helpful and to get someone to even attempt communicating with her… and failing at both. A few people were interested in her, but they were afraid of her even when she wasn't carrying her lightsaber, and they didn't want to talk. She did hear their heavily accented "Je-e-edi" a couple times, though, so they were talking _about_ her, just not _to_ her.

Two red-feathered young men walked by, one in women's clothes and one in men's. Moyek could have sworn they were trading feathers, which was the equivalent of flirting from what Moyek understood.

The men with her saw them and made the whistling noise they used when they liked something. Moyek frowned to herself. Were they making fun of the boys, or actually happy? Or had she completely misread the situation and they weren't flirting at all?

She got the attention of a young man. She knew her accent was terrible – she didn't have an ear for how long to draw out different sounds – but she had to try. "They marriage?" she asked. She didn't know the word for "love."

"Soon," he said, making a gesture to mean something ahead. "They marry soon. It is good –" She didn't understand the last word at all.

"Red marriage red is good?" she asked. She couldn't remember the word for "men."

"Good!" he nodded, his crest lifting to show happiness. "Bring food."

Women brought food home, so did that mean that it was the job of the crossdressing man (or transgender woman, maybe – how did you discuss gender identity with the kind of vocabulary Moyek had?) to get food? Or that the marriage itself brought food?

"Brown marriage brown is good?"

He nodded. "Good!"

"Food?"

He nodded again. "Bring food!"

Was this good luck? That would explain why they were happy to see it.

Moyek thought about it, then pointed to herself. "Marriage brown, maybe," she said.

The man's crest lifted again, and the other men turned to her, finally interested. The first man said a word she didn't know, questioningly. When she didn't answer, he pointed to the woman working with them, then to her. Moyek nodded.

Crests lifted all over the group. "Je-e-edi is –!" he said. She guessed the word meant "lesbian" or "butch" or "trans male" or something. He pointed to their clothes. "Want?" he asked.

"Yes!" she said, grinning.

He pulled on her arm, and all six of them ended up taking her to the store and buying her men's clothes, talking the whole way. She grabbed their protocol droid, who protested strongly until he realized that they were actually talking in his presence for once and he could learn some new words at last. Then, they happily showed her off around town.

And that was how they learned that the Hraan considered gay and transgender people sacred.

* * *

"So," said the pilot, a short, brown-haired Human girl about Moyek's age. "Are you allowed to go to dinner with someone or something?"

"For what?" Moyek asked. She was supposed to be making contacts at the spaceport, but she wasn't sure this sounded like business.

"Like, I mean, as a date."

Moyek froze. What was she supposed to say? People had flirted with her before, but not asked her out on dates. One time she had fallen in love, the girl had been straight, and another time, Moyek hadn't stayed long enough to find out. The one time they had both liked each other, of course, was that time with the politician's daughter who was too afraid to do go out with her. She'd lost any desire for experimenting with relationships. It was no fun, and people left the Jedi order because of love far too often. She was hardly willing to do anything that could lead to her deciding to leave the only family she could remember.

"Um, I don't really do dates."

"But you told everyone you're lesbian. Literally. Everyone."

"Liking girls and wanting to go on dates are two different things. Besides, I'm a Jedi, and romance isn't allowed."

"It doesn't have to be serious."

"I'm not a casual relationships kind of person. Or a casual sex kind of person, actually. I'm not of age by Coruscant's laws, anyway. I don't know what it is here, but I don't want to mess with that."

She looked really disappointed. Probably she didn't meet many girls who wanted to date her, even as pretty as she was. "But you said…"

"I'm sorry," said Moyek, regretting what she'd said for the first time. "I'll be clearer next time."

The woman nodded. "I guess that's the way it is."

Well. Looked like sexual orientation was complicated, after all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:**

 **As a reminder, I have a headcanon that when a Jedi moves up to padawan or knight, there is a ceremony where Yoda (or another senior Council member) talks about their history and gives them hope for their future. Also, remember that Akite is technically narrating this.**

* * *

Moyek had to check that this was real. After a lifetime of training and dreaming, she was actually going to become a knight. She had made it.

She knelt, the Council around her, waiting for Yoda to speak of who she had been and to welcome her to her new life.

"Moyek Yasi," he greeted her solemnly. "Lesbian you are."

No. No. He hadn't just said that. They were at a knighthood ceremony. He _couldn't_ have.

But judging from the muffled reaction from around the Council, he _had_.

He paused. She looked up at him. He was smiling that crazy, childish smile.

She couldn't believe it. After all this time, she was finally on the receiving end. She was the one stunned speechless by an out-of-place coming out. In the end, Yoda was better than anyone at everything, even practical jokes. And knowing she wasn't the best was a good lesson to be the last one she received before she became a Jedi.

* * *

"I'm Moyek Yasi, a _Jedi knight_ , and I'm gay!" Moyek told the Duros captain, still thrilled at the title.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I tell everyone!"

"Well, I'm straight."

"Great! Now, about your ship…"

* * *

"I'm Master Moyek Yasi, and I'm lesbian. This is my apprentice, Jana Lorisi, and she's straight."

The senator struggled for words while Moyek's thirteen-year-old apprentice blushed and looked horrified. "Master!"

"What?" Moyek asked innocently.

"You – you can't –"

"Why not? It's true, isn't it?"

"But you can't! It's – it's private!"

Jana was so nervous and embarrassed about everything. Moyek almost felt sorry for her… but not quite.

* * *

Moyek pushed in front of Jsir, her mission partner. "I'm Moyek Yasi, and I'm gay!" She hadn't said it in a while. It felt good.

" _Why_ did I agree to work with you?" Jsir asked.

* * *

"I'm Moyek Yasi. I'm a Zabrak."

"I can see that," said the waitress, looking at Moyek's apprentice as if he would explain the situation to her.

"I'm also gay."

"All right, then."

"I used to tell everyone that, but I got bored, so I thought I'd try out telling people I'm Zabrak. It's not as fun, though."

"I didn't think Jedi could be crazy," she said, deadpan.

"I'mnot crazy! I just make everyone else that way."

"Duly noted."

"This is my padawan, Alaru, who is Human. And straight."

"Save me," he said, his deadpan even better than the waitress'.

"I'll try," the woman told him.

"You won't succeed," said Moyek. "I make everyone go crazy. There is no fighting it. So, can we get a menu?"

* * *

And finally, years later, I came along. Master Moyek and I were on our second mission together, protecting a recently established Twi'Lek colony to convince them the Republic was a safer bet than the Separatists. We visited their biggest town to see what they needed, and the mayor came out to greet us.

Moyek bowed, so I did, too. "I'm Moyek Yasi. This is my padawan, Akite Chairu."

"Nice to meet you," said the green-skinned mayor.

"Oh, and I'm lesbian," said Moyek.

I think my eyes actually bugged out.

"Sorry?" asked the mayor.

"I just like telling people," Moyek said, sounding more cheerful than I had ever heard her sound before.

The mayor shook his head and offered to give us a tour. As we started to walk, I found my voice. "Seriously?" I squeaked.

"What?" Moyek asked.

" _Seriously_?"

"What?"

"I thought people made that up!"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because… because…" I couldn't even explain.

"Didn't anyone tell you I did this? I thought everyone told the stories."

"Of course! Everyone who hears you're my new master has a list of reasons why you're crazy and I should be terrified for my future. But I thought they were mostly made up! I thought because you're lesbian and you like jokes, he thought it would be funny if you went around telling everyone, so he decided to say you did!"

"People don't need to make up stories about me," Moyek said, entirely serious.

" _Seriously_?"

"Nope. They're all true."

"Did you really talk back to the Supreme Chancellor?"

"She needed to hear the truth."

"When you were a _padawan_?"

"I still knew she was wrong."

"How did you get _away_ with it?"

She shrugged. "There were consequences from the Council, but I survived. Same as the time I snuck out of the Temple with my friends and some initiates and went to another planet. Makes the night you went and got drunk seem safe, right?"

"And the time –"

"Yes, yes, yes. They're all true."

I shook my head in disbelief. "You really tell everyone you're gay?"

"I did. For about five years straight, and occasionally since then, when I feel like it."

" _Why_?"

"Because it was funny. And nobody else would. And I could get away with it because I was a Jedi, even when other people couldn't. And it needed saying."

I shook my head again. "I – but –" There were no words. " _ **Seriously**_?"


End file.
